Donald Trump has made clear throughout his campaign and administration that he has no respect for the conventional norms of United States government. From his calamitous attempt, just after his inauguration, to institute a travel ban for several countries with predominantly Muslim populations to his equally uproarious attempt last summer to ban transgender people from the U.S. military by way of a tweet, he has continually pushed the limits of what the president can get away with.

The courts have stopped some of these attempts to rule by fiat (though the travel ban is very much in effect as of now). But court injunctions haven’t stopped Trump from trying… and his latest attempt might be his most blatantly dictatorial power grab yet.

In an interview with HBO news show Axios, scheduled to air next Sunday, Trump tells the show’s hosts that he’s interested in ending the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship to anyone born within the United States. The interviewer tells Trump about how some legal scholars think this 14th Amendment policy can be ended by Executive Order, a legal directive that can be signed into law by the president without approval from Congress.

In response, Trump says he’s thinking about doing so. “It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” the president tells the Axios interviewer. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

“It’s in the process. It’ll happen — with an executive order,” Trump went on to say. He expressed contempt for the Constitution’s provision of citizenship by birthright. “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years, with all of those benefits. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, and it has to end.”

In truth, the United States is one of 35 countries that allows for unrestricted citizenship by birth; others include Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Significantly, all but three of these countries are in the Western Hemisphere; birthright citizenship doesn’t exist anywhere in Europe.

In the US, citizenship by birth is guranteed by the 14th Amendment, one of three amendments to the U.S. Constitution signed into law after the end of the Civil War. The 14th Amendment’s roots lie in one of the Supreme Court’s most infamous moments, the Dred Scott decision. In this 1857 ruling, the Court said that Dred Scott, a slave who’d been taken to free states on multiple occasions by his captors, was subject to the control of his slavemasters regardless of the laws in the state he entered. They based this ruling on the notion that slaves, regardless of where they were born, were not citizens of the United States, due to the fact of their enslavement.

The 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause reversed this decision. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” it read.

That “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” phrase has generated some controversy over the years, but according to constitutional law professor Suzanna Sherry, it’s pretty straightforward. “That means that they are subject to the laws of the United States; that they can, for example, be prosecuted for violating American law,” she told NPR.

In addition to being an attempt to make amends with former slaves, this clause also served to make immigrants feel more welcome in the US. In the late 19th century, immigration was vital to the United States workforce.

“The United States had experienced quite a bit of immigration, and immigration was viewed as a very good thing,” Sherry told NPR. “And so this was essentially putting out a welcome mat to immigrants by ensuring that their children born here would be citizens.”

These days, children of immigrants are seen quite differently. The growth of undocumented immigration to the United States from Latin American countries, which increased steadily throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, stoked right-wing fears — most of which were both unfounded and racist. By 2006, the term “anchor baby” had become ubiquitous on the right as a pejorative reference to US-born children of undocumented immigrants, who obtained citizenship at birth despite their parents coming to the country outside the legal immigration process.

The push to repeal the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause and end citizenship by birth grew out of this (racist and hateful) right-wing movement, and as the US president with the most direct connection to that movement thus far, Trump is certainly in tune with it. However, his belief that an executive order alone would be enough to repeal a constitutional amendment is not supported by most scholars.

Earlier this year, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who served on the Court from 1975 until 2010, published an op-ed in the New York Times, calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment and its provision of unrestricted access to firearms. Stevens felt that the Supreme Court’s decision in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case was wrong, and should be overturned by way of amending the Constitution. “Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple,” Stevens wrote.

This kind of amendment is not unprecedented; the 18th Amendment, which prohibited manufacture or sale of alcohol in the United States, was later overturned by the 21st Amendment. However, it required not only a two-thirds majority vote in favor of passage by both houses of Congress, but passage by three-fourths of the country’s 50 states. The fact that this has only happened once in the 240-year history of the United States shows how difficult it is to accomplish.

If Stevens had seen an easier path to repealing the Second Amendment, surely he would have proposed it. As a former Supreme Court Justice himself, one would think he’s more aware than most of exactly what the Constitution allows and forbids.

Indeed, people who study this sort of constitutional law expect the courts to ultimately arbitrate the constitutionality of Trump’s planned executive order. On Twitter, Mark Krikorian, who serves as the Executive Director for the Center for Immigration Studies, predicted exactly this. “This will set up the court fight,” he tweeted. “The order will be enjoined, the case will eventually reach SCOTUS, which will then finally have to rule on the meaning of ‘subject to the jurisdiction’.”

It seems likely that the Supreme Court, complete with brand-new Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh on board, will ultimately be the ones who decide whether Donald Trump should have line-item veto power over the Constitution of the United States. If the court were to rule in Trump’s favor, this would all but abolish, in real terms, the tripartite system of checks and balances we all learned about in middle-school social studies classes — paving the way for Trump’s joke(?) about being president for life to become a horrifying reality.

Kanye West has often been quoted over the years making proud boasts about his greatness and importance. Last week, he took things to the next level when he met with President Trump; a meeting that was supposedly intended to focus on prison reform and gang violence.

However, Kanye’s rambling half of the conversation quickly derailed into a pro-Trump monologue, in which his incoherence rivaled Trump’s own. His dismissal of Hillary Clinton’s campaign was a particular highlight.

“I love Hillary, I love everybody, but the campaign ‘I’m With Her’ just didn’t make me feel, as a guy that didn’t get to see my dad all the time, like a guy could play catch with his son,” said West.

At one point, West, who discussed his diagnosis of bipolar disorder on his recent album, Ye, told Trump that he’d been misdiagnosed. This amounted to a significant reversal after his recent public discussion of his mental issues. The cover art for Ye features the handwritten statement, “I hate being bipolar it’s awesome,” while Ye track “Yikes” references another identity, which West calls “Ye” and says embodies his “bipolar shit.” In the song, he calls being bipolar a superpower rather than a disability.

For West, who due to his own financial success now has the freedom to engage in volatile behavior in pursuit of creative ends, this is an easy call to make. But for most suffering from mental health issues, they are quite the opposite of a superpower. It would be more responsible for West to use his fame as a platform to open conversation and end stigma around disabilities, instead of merely profiting off a sense of community with his fans whose own struggles with mental illness remain a taboo subject in their lives.

West has since retracted all of his statements about bipolar disorder anyway, doing so for the first time in public while speaking with Trump.

“I wasn’t actually bipolar,” he told the president. “I had sleep deprivation, which can cause dementia 10 to 20 years from now.”

West seems to have backpedaled on his bipolar disorder to ensure his credibility with Trump. He apparently hoped to assert that he is, in fact, stable enough to discuss important issues with the president — not that mental stability has been much of a concern in the Trump administration so far. However, by doing so, he’s also given the world cause to wonder whether his, and by extension others’, admission of mental illness are valid.

West himself should understand why this is a dangerous thing to do. Earlier this year on Jimmy Kimmel, he said himself that it’s especially important for him to be open about his own mental health as a black man.

“We never had therapists in the black community,” he told Kimmel. “We never approached taking a medication.”

As a black man, West has confused and upset many fans and with his open support of Trump — especially given that Trump’s initial campaign was riddled with misogyny, racism, and general headassery. In the wake of his public conversation with the president, CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson summed up this confusion.

“It’s quite an evolution for Kanye West. He was somebody who was very critical of George Bush particularly,” she said during a recent on-air appearance. “For him to be in the white house almost seeming to worship the president, saying that he loves him, that the hat gives him power, that it makes him feel like a man — it was so odd.”

West may not be a politician, but this does not diminish his influence over people in the United States. Since his following is mostly young people, they are easily encouraged to act upon their political beliefs. These choices will follow them the rest of their lives.

This abuse of his position as an influencer impacting young people, combined with his decision to align himself as the token black voice for conservatives, makes it that much easier for Republicans to pretend they value black people, while not actually speaking to issues that matter to them.

On CNN, Henderson pointed out this exact fact, saying, “This meeting [with Trump] was supposed to be about criminal justice reform, opportunity zones, African American employment and revitalizing some of these communities. You would think you’d want policy experts, people who know about these issues, but instead you’ve got Kanye West, who isn’t a policy expert in any of those things, and certainly doesn’t speak to the diversity and broad experiences of 40 million black people.”

Who better to represent black people in America than Kanye? When he isn’t vocalizing his opinion that 400 years of slavery was a choice black people made, he’s defending Trump by saying that black people need to be responsible for their actions, as they “kill each other more than police officers.”

West must not see the irony here. The contrast between his infamous criticism of George Bush after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and his support for Trump today could not be more glaring. For Trump, though, this is a win — he can now point to a high-profile example of “his African Americans” in the crowd when he campaigns for reelection in 2020.

Kanye West’s casual dismissal of the effects of mental illness hurts those who struggle with those illnesses. However, his decision to act as a convenient token for conservatives anxious to win over black voters without actual policy changes damages an entire marginalized community. For these reasons and many others, when he sat before Donald Trump’s desk, it would have been better that he stayed quiet.

Good afternoon, male readers of RVA Mag and the world! Between the Kavanaugh/Ford case, #MeToo, and the general fact of having Trump as president, it’s a pretty scary time to be alive. Especially for a man!

Man, it is so difficult being a cis white man in America these days! You think you’re just leaving your house one night, minding your business to get a Starbucks and buy some board shorts, and boom! You’re accused of sexual assault! What is a guy to do, am I right?

But let’s be real. We would be remiss without acknowledging that the ladies in your life are having a bit of a time, too. It’s rough out there for us girls. So I bet you’re sitting there asking yourself: “Brad, my man. What can I do for the ladies in my life? How can I be a better ally?”

We’re glad you asked, Todd! Just for you, we have created a handy dandy top six list that’ll tell you how to be a better ally to the girls in your life!

Don’t rape anyone.

Might as well start with the easiest one, to ease you into the rest: Ask for consent. Ask permission to touch anyone, even if it’s just a hug. Believe it or not ladies really enjoy it when you ask for basic things like hugs, hand-holding, or having sex. We know it’s a tough concept to embrace, but we want you to know we believe in you.

Don’t be a piece of shit.

We know that the best way to make the news and politics easier to swallow is to make jokes about it, filling the internet with memes and crappy comments. However, there is something you should know about what happens when you post things like memes about how Kavanaugh couldn’t have raped Dr. Ford when they were in school because “she was ugly.” The women in your life who’ve survived rape and sexual assault are going to see that.

And rest assured, by the way — there are some women in your life who’ve been through things like that, regardless of whether you know about it. They might not have told you, but guess what — they don’t have to! Not everything is your business! Who knew?

Anyway, those women are going to retain that information. And they are going to now know that they can never trust or feel safe around you ever again. Ever. Do you want that? No? So don’t do that! Pretty please!

Don’t make jokes about sexual assault.

We know, we know. You totally have good intent with this. You’re not like a regular dude — you’re a cool dude! You’re edgy, but you’re an edgy progressive who is going to take back rape jokes. For the girls!

We are super sorry to tell you this, but you can’t actually do that. We know you want to poke fun at Kavanuagh, and that’s super cool in concept (but ONLY in concept). You want to write an edgy twitter joke or two, or maybe make a meme. But maybe don’t? In fact, definitely don’t. It will never be your place as a man to make jokes about the sexual assault of women.

So the next time you think it’s okay to ask, “Hey! How do we feel about jokes about sexual assault?” just remember: Don’t! Instead, try making some memes about how it’s almost Halloween, and how retail is crazy right now. So relatable! Maybe a meme about sweatpants at Thanksgiving? Too silly! So relatable!

DO call out your buddies for their uncool behavior.

Being one of the dudes and just hanging with your bros is so hard and uncomfortable right now. You can’t just do your thing and call girls sluts and hoes when they wear those shorts and skirts to be comfortable in 95 degree heat. Oh no!

Even if you don’t do that, it’s gonna get kinda awkward when Chad does makes his own jokes, or whistles at that cutie walking down Broad St. But you know what is even more awkward? Watching this behavior become normalized, because you didn’t ever say anything, and then waking up one day to realize that every single woman (and a larger chunk of men than you realize) you know has been raped, assaulted, harassed, or some combination thereof. So spooky!

We know — it’s scary to stand up to your bros. But it is really important that you do this. You got this, bro!

Believe survivors. All of them. Always.

Sexual assault is such a bummer of a topic. Such a downer! And talking about it and learning that people you love or even those you don’t know have survived these things is such a buzzkill! But you know what’s even more of a bummer? Being violently raped and having no one believe you. Crazy!

Fun Fact: Not believing survivors not only normalizes sexual assault, helping pave the way to making it commonplace in our society. It also, on the individual level, increases and worsens depression, anxiety, and suicide. All bad things, my dude. Be there for people, and if someone finds it in them to trust you to talk to you about this, stiffen that upper lip and be the best dude friend your friend has ever had. Listen, and support them.

Remember how we mentioned asking for a hug? Now is the time! Ask for that hug, my dude! Also be vocal about that support! Take a break from tweeting at Starbucks and the Redskins and start tweeting at people to believe survivors. Tell everyone you know to support RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network)! Be the stand-up bro we know you are, my bro!

Don’t want to be accused of assault? Don’t assault someone!

We know! Everyone is so scared, you guys. “Will I be accused of sexual assault?” Good question, my dude! Here’s how you know.

Take a seat.

Ask yourself, “Have I obtained clear consent before and during every sexual encounter I’ve ever had?” (You might also want to ask yourself, “Have I ever engaged in sexual activity with someone who was intoxicated to the point of impairment?” Because that counts as sexual assault too, my dude!)

Is your answer no? Then you’re good!

Is your answer yes? Oops! Might want to be prepared, bro!

We know these are all scary and difficult times. But you know what? You, my friend, are a man. And you can do this! Be there for women and survivors. Be the stand-up dude we know you are!

Sincerely,

The Women of RVA Mag

P.S. — Yes, we’re writing this article anonymously. We write anonymously becasue we are genuinely concerned for our safety and livelihood. If that sounds silly or stupid to you, this article was written for you — and you need to have a long, difficult conversation with not only yourself but the women and other survivors in your life about why you’d take such an uncaring attitude toward their suffering.

Again, you may not know those survivors are there. But they are. Look around the room you’re sitting in right now. We promise you that most of the women in the room have been harassed, assaulted, raped, or all of the above. The woman writing this has been all of the above, both in the distant past and all too recently. And she is tired. She is so unbelievably fucking tired.

The choice of this article’s darkly sarcastic tone was an intentional one, if for no other reason than to hopefully make you think. But if you or someone you know has survived an assault, please get help. If you don’t have a trusted counselor in your life, we implore you to reach out to RAINN — call their National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at (800)656-HOPE. It is never too late, and you are not alone.

Progressive yard signs are visible throughout my neighborhood of Church Hill, declaring “Black Lives Matter” and “Hate Has No Home Here.” Those signs help to foster a sense of community; there’s comfort that comes from feeling that our neighbors are interpreting this moment in our country in similar ways. However, there is a danger of mistakenly assuming those shared assumptions are broader than they actually are. There’s a danger in thinking “everyone must view Trump’s election as a big mistake at this point.” From that assumption, it follows that Sen. Tim Kaine will easily defeat Corey Stewart, the candidate who says he is “more Trump than Trump.”

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Wilder School just released a poll of 802 likely voters that suggested a 23-point lead for Kaine. More reason to relax, the logic goes.

That’s what the conventional logic says, but if we step outside the bubble of Richmond, we start to see warning signs. My phone died last week, and in order to get a replacement, I headed to the Mechanicsville Verizon store. Stewart signs, big and small, lined the streets of my drive, prominently placed in front of homes and businesses.

It was a good reminder that Stewart has supporters, and that he represents a certain right-wing populist base that will show up politically. There is more of us, yes, but is that enough?

We have to overcome undemocratic structural barriers that exist as part of the legacy of systemic anti-black racism.

Towards building a progressively governed Richmond and nation, we cannot simply live with a Kaine victory; we need a full-scale repudiation of the Trumpism that Stewart represents, and that means a victory with as wide of a margin as possible. But, we should not get ahead of ourselves; as progressives, we should not assume it’s in the bag.

Hillary Clinton was expected by most pollsters to win. Those pollsters were wrong. However, equally relevant for us, it isn’t simply that we can’t put too much faith in the polls, it is also that Clinton lost the election despite winning the popular vote. Superior numbers did not matter.

With the midterms on the horizon, it’s a reminder that the fact there is more of us is not sufficient. We have to turn out in races that we have historically stayed home for. Further, we have to overcome undemocratic structural barriers that exist as part of the legacy of systemic anti-black racism, and that has often been put in place by lawmakers elected on those years we stayed at home.

There are two political forces in our country with a direct interest in political minority rule: one, the white nationalists who recognize the changing demographics of the country, and who tremble in fear at the prospect of a country that isn’t majority white, and, two, corporate elites who want their taxes low and their profits high, and as a result seek policies in diametric opposition to the interests of the majority who want and need fair wages, environmental regulations, and well-funded public schools, housing, and transportation.

President Donald Trump is uniquely dangerous precisely because he has the ability to unite these two different political forces into an aggressive political coalition with a shared agenda and strategy.

However, the Trump coalition’s ability to be successful is premised on two interrelated things; wide-scale voter disenfranchisement and low-voter turnout. That is why we have the ability to defeat Trump and Trumpism by turning out, doing the work to turn others out, registering voters, pushing for restoration of voting rights, and fighting against voter suppression effort.

Turnout in the Nov. 6 election may very well be the deciding factor in whether we win the future or get defeated by the past.

Donald Trump and the politics of the 19th century

There has always been a white nationalist minority which existed as part of the conservative coalition in the USA. During the Obama administration, key elements of this conservative, racist minority became emboldened. They could not accept that an African American had become President of the US—not once, but twice—and they wanted to do all that they could to reverse his legacy, even policies from which they benefitted.

Donald Trump, always politically ambitious and demagogic, seized on the moment. Watching the growth of the Tea Party movement that challenged virtually every reform advanced by President Barack Obama, Trump decided to go deeper into more dangerous terrain. He fanned the flames of what came to be known as the “Birther Movement,” those who suggested that Obama had never legitimately been a US citizen. Despite all evidence, Trump continued to ring the bell of birtherism. The real objective was to say, in coded words, that it was inconceivable that a Black American could (or should) become president of this country.

Trump’s 2016 campaign for president was noteworthy on multiple levels. His opening argument that Mexicans were bringing crime to the US ignored the reality of declining immigration and also the fact that immigrant communities commit demonstrably less crime, and are more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators.

Or consider Trump’s attacks on Muslims and the suggestion that Muslim-based terrorism was the main threat to the US. What is worth noting is that since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the main form of terrorism to threaten the US has been right-wing, white supremacist terrorism.

Trump has been carrying out a well-crafted approach of divide and rule. He, and the corporate interests that he represents, want to ensure that they can move a very reactionary agenda that will reverse the victories that we, the broader American public, have won over the course of the 20th century. As one political theorist put it, they seek to take us back to the era of William McKinley and of the Spanish-American War.

Is the problem just Trump?

I wish that I could say that the problem was only or mainly Trump. After a while, people will tire of him and he will go off into retirement. But the challenges that we face—and that will be represented in the midterm elections—are much deeper.

As I mentioned, there are two very nefarious forces at work that seek to turn back the clock. One is represented by conservative corporate elites, such as the Koch Brothers, and political organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council. They are actively attempting to reverse various laws, court decisions, and regulations that have benefited poor and working people. They are using immigrants, Muslims, and black people as a way of distracting white people from what is really going on. After witnessing a blatantly racist act in Tennessee, President Lyndon Johnson told a young Bill Moyers exactly why many politicians nurtured and fed racist discrimination. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on and he’ll empty his pockets for you,” he said, speaking from his own experience as a former member of the Southern bloc.

Think about it. We have been subjected to a tax reform bill that is nothing short of a bribe for some, that directly benefits the elite. And everyone knows it! Yet, when Trump and his allies, including the corporate right, focus on immigrants, Muslims, etc., it is as if we are dealing with a magician who dazzles us with one hand while the real action is in the other. He’s playing upon inherited prejudices while robbing us blind.

In addition to the corporate right, there is a movement called “right-wing populism.” This is a mass movement. It is racist, sexist, xenophobic, militaristic, and highly authoritarian. It seeks to re-establish the idea that the US is a so-called white republic and that anyone not white is nothing more than a guest – an uninvited one. The corporate right has long sought with varying degrees of success to build a grassroots base out of right-wing populists. In fact, what is so dangerous about Trump, can be best understood as a unique ability to fuse these two right-wing elements. However, even before Trump, both of these elements had political strategies that relied on midterm elections – in other words, relied on low turnout from progressives.

So, what’s immediately at stake in the midterms?

There are many things that are at stake. First, control of Congress. As we have seen in these two years, Republican domination of Congress means that they pick the Supreme Court. They can cut regulations. They can fail to hold Trump accountable. They can keep their hands in our pockets. If even one house of Congress flips, that will give working-class people some breathing room. It prevents against another attempted repeal of Obamacare. It offers for some ability to prevent Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, from being sworn in. It may make or break whether the Mueller investigation can actually lead to an impeachment.

Low turnout and structural barriers to voting

There is something strange that happens during the midterm elections. More often than not, a different “America” shows up at the polls. Rather than the diverse country in which we live, full of growing numbers of young voters who elected Obama or supported Bernie Sanders, we see older, white, conservatives at the polls.

Worth noting is that the U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout, but of particular importance to us is the discrepancy in numbers from presidential election years to off years. There’s some fluctuation but generally speaking about 60 percent of the voter eligible population votes in presidential elections, while only 40 percent votes in the midterms. The impact of midterm elections can be dramatic, as we saw in 2010 and 2014. It can flip the country. The facts are demonstrable but, nevertheless, many people continue to stay home.

There is a vicious cycle of us not turning out, followed by those who end up in power as result pushing agendas and enacting laws that make it harder for us to turn out and win in the future.

Trump’s win and the victory of the new Trumpism coalition it represents comes in the first presidential election after the Supreme Court stripped out the protections of the Voting Rights Act, and in only the second presidential election after the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations can spend unlimited amounts to influence elections.

On June 25, 2013, the conservative Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, overturned the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The significance of this cannot be overstated. The law had offered increase oversight and scrutiny to the voter practices of nine states, with a history of suppressing the black vote, including Virginia. Many of these states rushed in the days and months that followed to pass more restrictive voting laws.

After Obama carried Virginia in 2012, the Republican-controlled state legislature moved to enact tougher restrictions on a previously passed Voter ID law – while it would previously have accepted a large range of non-photo ID at the polls – things like utility bills, now it would only accept a driver’s license, voter ID cards, student IDs, and concealed handgun permits. It was a tactic designed to suppress Democratic Party voters and African Americans in particular. Under the Voting Rights Act, the shift would have required approval by the U.S Department of Justice; with the Voting Rights Act gutted it no longer needed to.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizen’s United v. Federal Election Commission happened during President Obama’s first term, on January 21st, 2010. It ruled that the First Amendment doesn’t just apply to human beings but to corporations as well, and thus struck down any laws that limit the ability of corporate leaders to spend money advocating for or against candidates. The principle of one person one vote continues to exist in theory but in practice, politicians campaigning for office know that those with wealth have disproportionate influence on election outcomes, and so they spend more time courting the wealthy and are wary of advocating any policy the wealthy might disapprove of, even common sense ones like progressive taxation.

The result of Citizen’s United is a political class under extreme pressure to spend most of its time fundraising, which in turn means spending most of their time with moneyed interests and not working-class people. The amount of money in elections has increased, and with it the disproportionate giving and power of the super wealthy.

These two Supreme Court rulings are not isolated occurrences. They are representative of a policy regime at every level of our government that attempt to push progressive voters and particularly African American voters out of the political process while inviting wealthy special interests into disproportionate power over the political process. If it has been confusing as to why our city and state’s elected leadership won’t remove Confederate monuments, this might offer a clue.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Is there a future that focuses on justice, equal rights, preservation of the environment, well-funded public education, the rights of workers to organize and bargain, and an end to the fear that many have lived under since Jan. 20, 2017? The answer is yes. Here’s the understanding it requires: progressive and the majority of the country have been subjugated to a political cycle low turnout resulting in policies that hurt us, coupled with laws that make it harder for us to vote and represent our interests in the future.

Our task is to displace this reactionary cycle with a new progressive cycle; in our cycle, we turn out big for all elections, we register new voters, work with people to get their rights restored, and win elections. Then we build strategies at the grassroots level that involve the elected officials we put into office, to advance policies that benefit everybody and couple that with laws that undo the racist and undemocratic barriers to voting, replacing them with laws that secure the right to vote and policies that promote voting such as early voting and making election day a holiday

Paper Moon, a strip club with locations in Scott’s Addition and Southside, will host one of the most well-known names in the media circuit: adult entertainer Stephanie Clifford, known by her trade name Stormy Daniels, who had a salacious affair with Donald Trump in 2006, before he’d successfully run for office. Her story has been a central point in the hush-money investigation of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Daniels will be appearing at Paper Moon Southside on the Midlothian Turnpike Sept. 13 for two variety show performances. RVA Mag was alerted to this story by the sharp eyes at RVADirt; the municipal watchdogs even got the set list of potential acts Daniels would be performing, broken down by theme and specific versions of each song.

From RVADirt Twitter Feed

Daniels has become a household name for her connection to Trump, appearing on news networks, Saturday Night Live, and more. According to reports, Daniels had an alleged affair with Trump back in 2011, but was given a nondisclosure agreement following the affair. The NDA was given and signed by Cohen. During the 2016 presidential election, Cohen allegedly paid Daniels $130,000 to avoid further discussion of the affair.

President Trump never misses an opportunity to thrash, tarnish, and slander previous administrations, so it is no surprise that earlier today his vice president, Mike Pence, stood somberly in front of an American flag and said these words: “While to often previous administrations all but neglected the growing security threats emerging in space, President Trump stated clearly and forcefully that space is, in his own words, ‘a warfighting domain'”. Cue the confetti lined parade on 5th Avenue, the thousands of space fighters with laser guns standing in review, and the legions of spacecraft ready for deployment into the great unknown.

Space Force. That is now a thing and a phrase in our lexicon. Despite the absurdity of it all, Pence announced that Space Force will be established by star-date 2020 in a speech to the Pentagon. And just to double down on the need for said Space Force, apparently China and Russia will be our main galactic enemies, even though we currently work with them on all International Space Station related projects. So much so, that we launch our own astronauts into space via Russia’s space agency (pesky details).

According to constitutional law, however, only Congress can establish a new branch of the military. So with midterms looming it is yet unclear if the establishment of Space Force will become a platform that both Democrats and Republicans run on or against. The last time Congress established a new branch of the armed forces was in 1940 with the creation of the Air Force. In his press conference, Pence also said, “Today the Department of Defense will release a report outlining the first stages of our administration’s plan to implement the President’s guidance and turn his vision into a reality,” and that the report, “identifies concrete steps that our administration will take to lay the foundation for a new Department of the Space Force.”

CNN has reported that the new Space Force will fall under the purview of the US Space Command. Pence cited the threat from Russia and China more than once and alluded to the fact that both countries are developing technologies to target US satellites. Namely laser beams and hypersonic missiles to launch attacks in space from here on planet Earth (a place the VP should return to).

This statement by Pence sums up everything we need to know about Space Force, “What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today other nations are seeking to disrupt our space based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before.”

It would appear that the vast and infinite emptiness of space has become crowded; or the US has just ran out of countries to invade. Welcome to the age of Space Force.